Jay McGavren’s Journal

1 - From the East (intro) - 0 stars
2 - Beaten Thursdays - 4 stars
3 - Aborted Hugs - 3 stars
4 - Class of 73 Bells (feat. School of Seven Bells) - 3 stars
5 - Girlfriend Boyfriend - 4 stars
6 - Smoking Red (feat. John Stanier) - 3 stars
7 - Prog Version Slowly Crushed - 4 stars
8 - Noreaster Cheer - 4 stars
9 - Let It Ring - 4 stars
10 - 17 Seconds Interlude (feat. Tobias Lilja) - 0 stars
11 - I Knew You Were Gonna Go - 4 stars
12 - Pomade Suite Version One - 4 stars
13 - Spaced + Dissonant - 5 stars
14 - Preparation (outro version) - 3 stars

Sigh… Only one 5-star (at least, based on my initial listen)… Lot better than Security Screenings, though.

I absolutely love, love, adore Stendeck’s “Frozen Sun” because of its eardrum-crushing, distorted drums and wailing sirens in the background, but I figured Lenny would hate it for the same reasons. I mean, he’s barely graduated from nursery rhyme CDs.

So I had Frozen Sun on in the car, but turned way, way lower than I’d like to because Lenny was in the back seat. Suddenly I hear him beatboxing to it (a habit he picked up from me). When it faded to synth pads at the bridge, he stopped, and I asked him:

“So, do you want this on CD?”

“Nah, no thanks.”

“Oh. OK.”

Disappointed, I drove on in silence, until the percussion kicked back in on the song, and Lenny exclaimed,

“OK, yeah, I do want this song.”

I gave a huge grin. “You just didn’t like the part without any drums, huh?”

“Yeah.”

I set up MTV Music Generator 3 on the old XBox for him the other day, and he gleefully set about randomly filling the score with nothing but bass loops, which when played simultaneously double their volume: “duhduhDUHduhDUHduhduhDUH”… Well, whatever, he’s having fun. Finally got him to add some percussion, and maybe we’ll do a more structured tutorial when he’s ready.

Should I be getting him violin lessons or something? Maybe, and I will if he asks for them, but I couldn’t do that with as much enthusiasm. Besides, exposing your kids to the things you love is the greatest reward of being a parent (and gods know I need some rewards).

D and I are both definitely liking Narrow Stairs (Death Cab for Cutie). “Cath…” is a whole season of a TV drama wrapped up in a single song. “Bixby Canyon Bridge” evokes the lyrical part of “Different Names for the Same Thing”, “I Will Posess Your Heart” the rambling jam session part. There’s a few songs that are mediocre by the band’s standards but that means you merely listen to them instead of include them on “soundtrack of my life” mixtapes.

Plans remains the album to get first, but if you’re hungry for more after that, Narrow Stairs may satiate you.

Haven’t heard everything that Phat Drumloops has to offer, but “Hogin’ Machine” and “Schoolboy Crush” are freakin’ sweeeet.

The iTunes “Priority Electronic Music” playlist just burned a new CD for me, and it included some Stendeck… I realized that song that had been stuck in my head for a week but couldn’t remember who did it was one of his. He’s not an incredibly versatile artist, but at least I like his one style. (Yet another track with ultra lo-fi drums and sweeping, plaintive pads… Count me in!)

The new Goozex account is working out pretty nice. (They’re a game-trading service.) Finally, I can find good homes for the titles on the Pile of Shame that I know I’ll never get back to. Shipping stuff out is especially easy for me since I only have to stop by the mailroom.

Especially the bridge. THUMP-THUMP-chik-a-chik-THUMP THUMP-chik-THUMP-chik. Rage itself encoded as audio. I want to build a Flash gallery and take a bunch of noir photographs just so I can loop that as the background.

I was also amused to see that “Teardrop” got used as the title theme for House (the medical drama).